231 replies to this topic

[christolx]

Ha yep. That is the finished product! 😊 i feel like it's finished well Heath. But again each to their own!

Yeh the single piece cast wheels were just a lot more affordable for me. I have lots of things to spend money on!

[Heath]

Yeah, I'm on board with the dash.

[Holdenbn74]

Yeah I ended up going whiteline forward facing sway bar on mine just to clear everything and give me less issues👍

[christolx]

So, again, it's been a while. I finally got the 9" built down at Final Drive. Phil was extreemly helpful. Ended up going with a Truetrac Centre for drivability (and got a good deal $). From what I have heard much better street manners than a clutch type LSD and the supposed "maintenance free" nature of how it works was also more appealing.

 

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Selected a 3.0:1 diff ratio as the M22z has a 2.98:1 1st gear. Hopefully still feels good off the line as the hatch is a much lighter car than the Camaro.

 

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[christolx]

I was considering boxing the trailing arms, but after sitting on it for a while, I ended up ordering a set of adjustable 4130 Chrome Moly Upper and Lower Rear Trailing arms from Pro 9. The uppers, to correct the pinion angle...and the lowers because they look great haha (and perhaps give me some more room for the exhaust.) They come with Nolathane rod ends and seem like a quality product. 

 

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I also got a set of VR Commodore Rear Brakes that I painted up and rebuilt over the weekend, (dust seals were a pain in the ass) but will hopefully be fitting up the rear end this Friday. Good Friday...Likely to be a Great Friday if it all goes together well

[koalasprint]

My hatch has a 3.08 ratio diff and a TKO gearbox. 2.87 first gear. Big duration camshaft(246 @ 50"). No worries taking off. Maybe if you were drag racing it'd be too tall. But on the road it's great. Can still spin the back tyres at will in first. It'll sit happily in fourth at 100km/h and even happier in fifth. (0.82 OD) This combo gives a good spread and takes advantage of the engines(355) big torque curve.

 

Previous combo had a 3.36 diff/M21. I didn't like it. RPM's higher than I wanted, gear changes too often.

[christolx]

Thats good to hear Steve, I'm not really interested in drag racing more circuit or autocross so sounds like it will be fine! yeh I was assuming the torque from the small block should get her going fine. will have to wait and see! Yeh the previous car I built had a short ratio box, was as if I was constantly shifting and never getting any drive out of the gear, so I know that feeling. 

[christolx]

Also got around to doing the steering column lower bearing mod. Worked a treat   hopefully makes the steering just that little bit easier/smoother haha. Its a  privelage to have access to so much helpful information on this forum!

 

 

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[Heath]

Enjoying your updates, Chris.

[christolx]

Thanks mate, I'm learning a hell of a lot in the process. Hopefully more updates tomorrow!

[christolx]

So VR Brakes all fit up well, but found the rear trailing arm ends are a fair bit narrower than the Std Torana arms, so I'll have to buy some washers and centre them up. Can't have them floating around... 

 

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[Swarbs]

Had a bit of a looksee at the pro 9 site at these

Cant believe they would not be fabricated or at the very least come with the spacers to ensure a proper fit 

Like so many other things that are made that we pay good money for there is just that lack of finish or fit 

 

"Bolt straight in" they would have said but to make it fit "properly" YOU have to fabricate spacers as you prob wont find washers of the correct size to do the job

So over this BS with these manufacturers and especialy after you have just given the mongrels one of your kidneys

Rant over 

 

All coming along nicely Chris

 

 

 found the rear trailing arm ends are a fair bit narrower than the Std Torana arms, so I'll have to buy some washers and centre them up. Can't have them floating around... 

[christolx]

Dave. exactly, was pretty surprising when I went to fit them up. I agree with you 100% would go a long way to just machine up a few vehicle specific spacers since they are selling an upper and lower "kit" they cost me over $800 and now I have to stuff around and get some spacers made up. 

[christolx]

So Pro 9 got back to me. Apparently they forgot to send me the spacers with the arms   so they are posting them out on Tues. Much more pleased knowing they made a mistake~

[Ice]

Arh the joys of car restos ✌️

[Redslur]

And modifying cars from standard :-)

Arh the joys of car restos ✌️

[christolx]

so, express post. Bushes turned up today. Actually quite a quality product 

 

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[Bigfella237]

NICE! So good to see that there are still companies around that provide good service and back-up their products, colour me impressed!

[christolx]

So had a very productive weekend! Rear end fit up went well and the old girl is finally able to roll on her own wheels for the first time! 

 

So the bushes Pro9 sent, (fortunately aluminium) required a few mm shaved off each size to get them to fit. Still made sure to keep the clearances tight. 

 

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When fitting the  Pro 9 adjustable arms, I sat them along side the std Trailing Arms and set them to the same length. Although, some adjustment had to be made on the fly to get everything to line up, and the double adjustable ends made it just that little bit easier on the lowers. 

 

Diff fitted flawlessly. I think that is a Final Drive Trait, must have a good jig! haha, only thing I had to think about was the order of fit up as the clearance for the shock absorbers is just enough to fit them in with the shortened diff and the commodore backing plates. 

 

Glad to be making some progress again! 

 

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[christolx]

This is how she is currently sitting with Lovell IRS Commodore Springs in the rear (pig tails chopped) with the front springs that came with the car (which I am assuming are std 6 Cyl springs). The 4x4 stance of the front actually surprised me with the weight of the SBC, it's sitting quite high. The  IRS springs actually don't appear to be very low, however with me and a mate using the rear end as a trampoline we could hardly get the rear end to move!   They seem extreemly bloody firm!! not sure if being an aftermarket spring they are even firmer, they likely won't be much of a comfortable ride...

 

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I plan to fit the std springs and fuel tank for engineering and pits. After all that is sorted,  maybe with a big dirty 120L drop tank full of fuel she might sit a little lower with the commodore springs?Or maybe she needs some Camira springs?   lets wait and see...

 

 

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I measured wheel centre to centre with a laser before ordering the diff. 1440 flange to flange which is close to std with. I checked the track width after the fit up, sitting at 1470 which is slightly over the NCOP std width + 25mm if going off A9X. But as its a Ford diff, I think it may go from the std Ford width? anyway, doesn't seem to be anything too extreme a couple mm, but according to Briffa Engineering they go of std width of 1382mm in WA. So, I might have run into a bit of an issue there!   Damn!

 

 

 

 

[Bigfella237]

According to NCOP11 (Page 47/LS85)...

 

 

...you need to know the rear wheel track spec for the donor vehicle the diff came from, minus the amount the diff was shortened, plus 25mm.

 

That will be your maximum allowable track measurement, nothing whatsoever to do with the old Torana measurements (try explaining that to a copper on the side of the road).

 

Who's to say what the diff came out of, could be a Fairlane or LTD, could be an F100? I guess you could take your pick so long as you don't take the measurements from anything with full floating hubs (that's a whole 'nuther ball game).

 

[Swarbs]

So Pro 9 got back to me. Apparently they forgot to send me the spacers with the arms   so they are posting them out on Tues. Much more pleased knowing they made a mistake~

 

Well have to eat my words there i suppose -- good to hear you don't have to go through the cost and grief

Strike pro9 off the list -- that leaves 273 companies to go

[christolx]

Yea Dave, ha well thats 1 that came good. They were very apologetic...

[jonesy]

I was considering boxing the trailing arms, but after sitting on it for a while, I ended up ordering a set of adjustable 4130 Chrome Moly Upper and Lower Rear Trailing arms from Pro 9. The uppers, to correct the pinion angle...and the lowers because they look great haha (and perhaps give me some more room for the exhaust.) They come with Nolathane rod ends and seem like a quality product. 

 

20180321_164417.jpg

 

 

I also got a set of VR Commodore Rear Brakes that I painted up and rebuilt over the weekend, (dust seals were a pain in the ass) but will hopefully be fitting up the rear end this Friday. Good Friday...Likely to be a Great Friday if it all goes together well

 

 

i have had my eyes on these for a while, have not pulled the trigger yet but you may have sold me, also love the steering colum mod have not got that far yet but i have completed the double knuckle conversion. loving the progress through this thread... not enough hatches in perth only see them now and again cant wait to see this one out rolling under its own steam!! 

(haha i bet you cant ether) -all in good time though cant rush these things not worth doing it twice

[jonesy]

might have missed it i do tend to skim read sometimes well all the time, i can be the undoing of me. 

 

chassis strengthening kit or similar? 

 

stopping this machine front end wise...hoppers?

might have missed it i do tend to skim read sometimes well all the time, i can be the undoing of me. 

 

 

chassis strengthening kit or similar? 

 

stopping this machine front end wise...hoppers?